Vero Beach, Florida, August 16, 2018: The National PTA has recognized Osceola Magnet Elementary and Glendale Elementary as 2018-2020 Schools of Excellence for their commitment to building an inclusive and welcoming school community where all families contribute to enriching the educational experience and overall well-being for all students.

"Research shows that when families and schools work together, students do better in school and schools improve," said Jim Accomando, President of The National PTA. "Osceola Magnet and the Osceola Magnet School PTA, and Glendale Elementary and the Glendale Elementary School PTA have worked hard to strengthen their family-school partnership and create an environment where all families feel welcomed and empowered to support student success. We are pleased to recognize them as National PTA Schools of Excellence."

The National PTA's School of Excellence Program helps PTAs become partners in identifying and implementing school improvement initiatives based on PTA's National Standards for Family-School Partnerships.

Osceola Magnet Elementary and Glendale Elementary School PTAs are two of only 278 PTAs and schools nationwide recognized as a 2018-2020 School of Excellence.

"We are so proud to be nationally recognized for the incredible family involvement here at Osceola Magnet Elementary," said Scott Simpson, Principal of Osceola Magnet. "Our teachers and staff are committed to creating an engaging community where parents and family members are equal stakeholders in student learning, while daily providing a world-class education to our students."

"To receive this award and be recognized as a PTA School of Excellence on a national level, speaks volumes of our culture here at Osceola Magnet Elementary," said Melissa Brown, President of the Osceola Magnet School PTA. "We strive on providing a strong foundation, where parents and teachers can successfully come together and give our children their everyday best."

Glendale Elementary School Principal, Adam Faust, stated, "One of the greatest things about being the Principal of Glendale Elementary is being able to watch our PTA ‘help the rest!' This growing group of dedicated individuals truly understands what it takes to help our students, teachers, and staff! I am so happy for the PTA team and look forward to supporting them, as we move into the 2018-19 school year. Go, Gators!"

Januarie Lloyd, PTA President at Glendale Elementary School, added, "We are so proud to be recognized as a National PTA School of Excellence. Our goal, last year, was to improve communications and make Glendale's culture and climate welcoming to all families. We aimed to do this by communicating to our families more frequently using methods that make life easy for them and pushed for more information to be in English and Spanish, including school signage. Our top-notch staff were already doing their best to make the climate and culture welcoming to all families, so we focused on making the grounds equally inviting. While, officially, we chose the first two standards to focus on, in the end, we had accomplished gains in all six National PTA Standards."

The National PTA School of Excellence Program is a great tool to use in bridging the goals of our schools, PTA's, and community. Glendale Elementary and Osceola Magnet Schools' PTAs are proud to hold this two-year designation, and challenge the other PTA/PTSAs to embark on this journey.

To celebrate their achievements, The National PTA will present Osceola Magnet Elementary and Glendale Elementary School PTAs with National PTA School of Excellence banners. For more information about Osceola Magnet Elementary or Glendale Elementary School, go to: